Many years ago I interviewed Cherry Pack, the
granddaughter of OK "Mose" Barton (son of James Allen, son of Moses Barton
of Walker Co., AL). Cherry said her grandfather could name our ancestors
back to the time when our clan first came to America. He even knew
the name of the ship our ancestors sailed on. He'd mentioned the name
to her many times, but she'd been a child and not much interested in family
history and simply couldn't remember the name. All she could recall
him saying was that our Barton ancestors came over on the second
ship.

This opens up a swarm of questions. Which
second ship? The second ship to land at Charles Town (Charleston),
SC, for instance, or the second ship to the VA colonies?

Starting at the beginning, I decided to find out
the name of the ship which arrived in America after the Mayflower. That
ship was called the Fortune. She left London
in August and arrived at Cape Cod in November of 1621. Of the
35 passengers, all but 32 are known. None of the known passengers were
Bartons, but the Captain of the ship was Thomas Barton. This may not
be the right "second" ship. If only someone had recorded that ancestry
OK "Mose" often related.

There are several sources of good information on
the net about the Fortune and her passengers. Unfortunately, even though
I've come across several previously, the following are the only ones I could
locate for the present. When I find the others, I'll include their URLs.
If anyone else should find a good source of information, please forward
it by email.